


Bad Dream

by DigitalWitness



Series: It's Always You [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Kid Fic, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-26 07:52:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1680533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalWitness/pseuds/DigitalWitness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin gets a bad dream after he watches a scary movie with Arthur.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Dream

**Author's Note:**

> This is a straight continuation of Scary Movie. 
> 
> Okay, I didn't intend for this to be quite as angsty as it turned out to be, it just kind of happened and I had to carry it out. Expect something much more light-hearted next time.

"Time to get ready for bed, kids." says Morgana as she enters the living room. Morgana is babysitting the boys tonight. She doesn't really mind because they're pretty well-behaved kids as it is, and she hardly has to watch them too much since they're capable of keeping themselves occupied, which gives Morgana time to catch up on her TV shows.

The scene she finds entering the living room warms her heart. She should be used to their displays of affection by now, but they never fail to turn her into a puddle of goo. How could anyone get used to the sight of those two kids clearly in love at such a young age? She whole-heartedly believed they were soulmates, their love was more than their age could grasp, but it was there, a blind man could see it. Somehow they had figured out the love thing long before she had. How were they so sure? She hoped Leon was the one, but was she positive? She had no idea. Love wasn't as easy as Arthur and Merlin seemed to make it appear.

They are cuddled together on the sofa and Arthur has his arms wrapped around Merlin, whose sitting in his lap with his head tucked under Arthur's chin. They're nestled at the corner of the couch and Arthur is whispering something in Merlin's ear, making his whole face red with laughter.

She notices the movie is finished and wonders what they had watched, she probably should have checked to see what they had decided on, but she was too engrossed in her own show to check on theirs. I'm a terrible babysitter. She thinks to herself. "What's so funny?" she asks Merlin, who meets her gaze, and gives her the most adorable grin.

"Arthur was telling me about the time Gwaine spilled red paint all over his pants in art class because he was too distracted by Elena to notice he was about to walk straight into a paint can!" answers Merlin. He can't stop the giggles as he retells the story.

"Gwaine's a special one alright." says Morgana.

"Merlin was feeling a bit scared after the movie we watched, so I decided to cheer him up with a funny story." Arthur adds.

"Of course you did. Wait...What do you mean scared? Arthur Pendragon what did you watch tonight?" Morgana stares straight into Arthur's eyes, and he immediately looks away. "Look. At. Me. Arthur."

Arthur reluctantly meets her eyes and mumbles something incoherent. "I'm sorry what was that?" Morgana's voice is rising in volume, and she knows that this is partly her fault, but she can't be bothered to think about that right now. Arthur stutters."…

"We watched Attack of the Questing Beast! ", yells Merlin. "Please don't get mad at him Morgana! It was just a little bit scary and I agreed to watching it."

"Merlin, please stay out of this. Arthur should know better. Arthur! That movie is rated R, you shouldn't be watching it especially with Merlin. What the heck were you thinking?"

"Ummm. Well...I didn't think it was that scary…uhhh… Gwaine had said it was good. Besides Merlin had me, I just held him through the scary bits, or actually all the bits. He didn't cry though."

Of course he didn't because you're Merlin's safety blanket. Morgana thinks to herself. "You should know better than to take Gwaine's advice. Just get to bed and I won't tell Uther."

"Yay big sis! Have I told you how much I love you lately?" Arthur hugs her knees. "No, but I don’t really want to hear it right now. Merlin your jammies are on the bed in the room across from Arthur’s." 

\---

After the boys were changed into their pajamas. Football jersey and cotton shorts for Arthur, and a blue shirt and star printed shorts for Merlin, they kissed goodnight and walked to their rooms, standing in the middle of the hallway they hugged while wishing each other a goodnight. Morgana had to physically pull them apart, as neither wanted to be the last one to say "good night" or "I love you". It was maddening. Getting tired of their charade, she yelled "If you don't get your behinds in bed in ten seconds I will personally make sure that this is the last GOOD night either of you will have!!!!" 

Immediately they ran to their beds.

As Merlin was settling into sleep, he couldn't stop thinking about the movie. The pictures were still vivid in his mind. He could still hear the screaming knights, and the image of the Questing Beast was even more frightening in his head. However much he tried to think of other things, like his mom's hugs, or Arthur's arms wrapped around him, or Arthur's laugh, or Arthur's kisses, it didn't help. The Questing Beast would again stake claim in his mind and the images of torn flesh, oozing blood, and the creature's terrifying gaze shook him from his sleep.

He snuggled into the blanket tighter. He always brought Kilgarrah, his favorite plush animal, a golden dragon that Arthur had got him for his 5th birthday. He couldn't sleep without him. His golden scales reminded Merlin of Arthur's hair, and he liked to think he had a bit of his presence whenever he had trouble sleeping.

After an hour of tossing and turning, sleep finally came and he started to dream. Merlin was walking in a forest with Arthur, playing chase and running through the trees, they dodged branches, jumped over tree stumps, and watched for dips in the ground. Arthur was in the lead and he was yelling at Merlin to catch up. Merlin tried to keep up with him, but Arthur was always a bit out of his reach. He never gave up chase, until suddenly Arthur had stopped. They had reached a clearing, and Arthur approached the middle of the field and stood at its center. He looked over to Merlin who was about to reach him, when suddenly the Questing Beast had entered the field, running straight towards Arthur.

Time stopped. Merlin opened his mouth to warn Arthur, but no sound came out. He ran with all his might to reach him, but it was no use, the monster was much faster. Merlin watched in horror as the monster leaped on to him and started to claw at his body. Arthur screamed in agony and Merlin watched as the beast ripped apart his best friend. Merlin's heart stopped and everything faded away.

He became aware that he was screaming. His eyes opened and he saw that he was in the guest bedroom of Arthur's house. Everything was impossibly quiet. The blinds were drawn, the lights were off, the fan was on, and everything was in its place, nothing like the catastrophic scene he had witnessed moments before. Merlin looked at his bed and saw that his comforter was on the floor and his sheets were tangled around his legs. His pillow had fallen, and Kilgarrah had been thrown across the room.

He tried to calm down his breathing. His head was still filled with the horrifying image of his best friend. He couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. Seeing Arthur being torn to shreds had crippled all his senses, and he felt entirely helpless. He couldn't even be with him for his last moments. Completely lost in the after effects of his nightmare, his body shook with grief, although he knew it was only a dream, he couldn't help imagining it was real.

It wasn't a minute later that the bedroom door burst open and Arthur came plowing through. With a voice hoarse with sleep, he called out Merlin’s name. He was haunted by Merlin’s screams. Action just took over his body and he immediately reacted to Merlin’s distress. Not even fully awake yet he hurried his way to him.

Without a hesitation, he dove into Merlin's bed and cradled him in his arms. Merlin started clawing at Arthur trying to hold whatever part of him he could reach. He sobbed into him, soaking his shirt, repeating his name with increasing urgency. All the while Arthur kept whispering soothing words. "Shhh. Merlin it's alright, it was only a dream."

Merlin knew he was acting like a baby, but he couldn't help it. His heart hurt too much. He had never imagined Arthur dying. It was a thought too overwhelmingly tragic to bear.

Arthur held Merlin through his sobbing. In a hoarse whisper, Merlin said, "I s-s-saw you dying, And I c-c-couldn't get to you fast enough. I'm so sorry. I love you so much. Please don't leave me." Merlin continued to hold onto Arthur with all his might. He couldn't loosen his grip. He only held on tighter. He became aware that he might have been holding on a bit too tight, but as Arthur made no indication that he was uncomfortable he maintained his grip. Arthur was weaving his hands through Merlin's hair and placed his lips on Merlin's temple repeating the same words over and over again. "I'd never leave you. I'd never leave you..."

After several minutes, Merlin's breathing slowed and his tears no longer required the assistence of his voice. Arthur finally was able to talk to him.

"I love you more than anything in this world. Don’t ever forget that. I never should have made you watch that movie. I’m so sorry." 

"Not you fault." Merlin's eyes showed such remorse Arthur needed to make Merllin see he would always be there with him. Merlin always seemed to feel emotions more strongly than the average person. He shouldn't know such grief, he was too pure hearted and care-free. He brought out the best in everyone, and Arthur would have given anything to take his pain away. Arthur couldn’t even begin to comprehend how Merlin would act if something bad had actually happened to him. He was worried at how much Merlin was affected by a dream, but he knew that if the had circumstances had been reversed and it was Merlin he saw being shredded to bits it would have broken Arthur, probably even worse. He loved Merlin more than his seven year old body could comprehend.

"Merlin. Look at me. I'm here."

"I know." Merlin kissed Arthur full on the lips and they fell into the sensation until they had to pull apart to breathe.

The night wore on. The room was dark and quiet and the sound of the digital clock continued to tick on. The moon was full and bright in the sky. Merlin’s sobs had subsided and he was left with an aching feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He couldn’t help, but feel like there was a part deep inside of him that had pulled such strong emotion from him by actually witnessing Arthur’s last moments and feeling the anguish of them from before, like in a past life. He couldn't explain it.

And his dream had resurfaced that grief and helplessness he had felt in them from the past. He was a child and such devastation shouldn’t be familiar to him. To remedy his distress he only snuggled into Arthur closer.

“Merlin?” Arthur’s voice was a whisper, but all the same it had surprised Merlin. He opened his eyes with a start and looked into those beautiful familiar eyes. “Is it okay if I stay with you tonight? I don’t want you to feel alone.”

“I want you to always stay with me. Forever.” Merlin looked into his eyes and Arthur could see them filled with such love and trust, he only hoped his told the same story. 

“Of course I will. You know I’ll always be with you right?”

“I sure hope so and Arthur?...No more scary movies for me. Ever.”

They settled in to sleep. Arthur had wrapped his arms around Merlin’s slim figure, and weaved their legs together. Merlin rested his head under Arthur’s chin, his breath ghosting on Arthur’s collarbones, They fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

\---

In the morning Morgana goes to wake up the boys. Hunith had arrived in the morning to come to pick up Merlin. She follows Morgana up the stairs, asking her how she managed to take care of the boys. Morgana tells Hunith that they were so easy to look after and she was always welcome to have her watch Merlin. She tells Hunith how Arthur always makes her go away so he can play with Merlin alone. Hunith laughs at that, as Merlin tells her the same thing when Arthur is over.

They find Arthur’s room empty. Hunith and Morgana smile at each other. There was only one other place where the boy could be. They crossed the hall to the guest room.

Slowly easing the door open, Morgana is met with one of the most adorable scenes she had ever seen of the two of them. Arthur’s laying flat on his back and Merlin’s head is resting on his chest. His hands are loosely holding on to Arthur’s shirt and his legs are turned against Arthur’s sides. Arthur has his arms wrapped around him leaving Merlin with a contented grin on his face.

Kilgarrah lays forgotten on the floor.


End file.
